Illustrated with 154 color reproductions of art and page-filling photographs of castles and grounds, this book from the author of Jane Austen: In Style provides a close-up account of a remarkable national transformation, as Queen Elizabeth I set out to capture the affection and loyalty of her people. A vivid picture of Elizabeth's life emerges here, from her inauspicious birth in the court of Henry VIII, who had pinned his hope on a male heir, through a youth punctuated by conspiracies and endangered during her Catholic half-sister Mary's period of rule, leaving Elizabeth with an enduring sense that to remain on the throne she must encourage the love of her people. In plays and pageants, in cameos, medallions, and portraits, and through the furnishings and gardens of the great country houses, the royal image was specifically tailored to evoke devotion. To love Elizabeth was to love England, and the Queen personified both an era and a national style. Susan Watkins recreates court life in the palaces along the Thames, and in the nearly 60 royal houses that were Elizabeth's inheritance, as well as the spectacle of the royal progress to the great country houses of her subjects.